Saturday, April 19, 2008
hmm. today we had a short yet meaningful practice..
we did post mortem of concert, listened to the feedback tt mr dzul had received, and listened to few of the songs tt were recorded during the concert.
"a hit concert", "brilliant", "entertaining", "heart stopping", "wonderful", "mesmerising"
mrs cheng- "I've always liked angklung performances"
Guest Of Honour-" I am very impressed with the students' good job"
VIP-" Concert of the year!"
etc etc..
Most of the feedback tt we received are positive, but of course, there were negative as well.
The main problem is a "mismatch of tempo" for some parts of some songs.
I guess there is no need for me to elaborate on how we did not perform up to the high expectations for some songs, and I'm sure that everyone know where are the problems.
What I want to do now, is not to pour cold water or to blame any members, as I think that we all had really done a good job.
seriously.
For the past one month or so, we had intensive practices. Playing (the instruments, of course) till seven plus, praying tt i'll do a shorter debrief for every practice, cheong-ing for the side gate, reaching home to find yourself too tired to do any homework, waking up the next day to find yourself looking like a PANDA, turning up for practice in the noon again, completely trapped in TA32, your natural habitat where there are bamboos in abundance.
It's tough, i know. For the juniors, i dont know if it's a good or bad thing to you that your first performance is the concert, but i'm sure everyone had a great and fun experience. When the J1s first came in, i can say that it was rather disastrous. Ppl dont know how to shake angklungs properly, dont know the sequence of songs, cant catch the beat, cant play crescendo well, cant join the notes well etc.. But now, I can confidently say that you juniors have improved a lot! Although we seniors tend to remind you of all the mistakes you've made during practices and seldom praise you explicitly, in actual fact, we do feel happy for you guys when we hear that you've played correctly for those difficult parts. We do not expect the juniors to play as well as the seniors, all we want to see is ur enthusiasm and passion for learning. If you think that angklung practices are boring and repetitive, I dont see the point why u are still staying in the cca. Every practice is a learning opportunity for each and everyone. I believe that even for the seniors, some of you may still be unable to master certain songs well yet, so every practice is a chance for u to touch up on those mistakes and show ur juniors the right attitude that angklung members should have.
Argh, I'm going a bit offtrack already. Alright, what I want to say is that, personally, I feel that the concert is a success, considering the fact that we are the first cca in NJ to hold a concert, which naturally means that we have lesser time to practice. This is also our first VERY OWN concert, and not with harmonica or malay dance or according to mr dzul, canoeing =.= haha. We have to memorise scores of 13 songs, and that is definitely no easy feat for ppl with poor memory (like me). I know some of the j2s feel a bit disappointed and guilty tt we did not perform reverie and zapin up to the SYF standard, and that we did not reach THE PEAK for most songs. Pls do not feel overly demoralised. Like what I've said, it is not easy to master all 13 songs within few months, and it is worse for the j1s second intake. Some j1s had less than a few weeks to memorise all songs and I really have to salute them for that!
Like what mr dzul said, it is always tougher to deal with concert than SYF. I didnt understand that last year. But now I have to agree with him. Last year, the focus was on 2 songs. Our seniors learnt the songs the year before, and juniors had more time to learn those songs as compared to our current juniors. Now, our focus is on all 13 songs. It is impossible to play all songs perfectly while recognising the time contraint. I know this shouldnt be an excuse. but we really have to admit that time is limiting our achievements. Also, for last year's SYF, not everybody are involved. there was an audition to choose the better players to perform, but now, we are involving everyone for all songs, including the poor second intakers who have to buck up a lot harder by their own, since they have so much little time to practise the songs.
Some j1s had approached me before, telling me that they cant cope with the songs and wished to help out in the concert in other areas except to perform for some of the hard songs. Of course, I didnt agree. u may find me evil, think tt im torturing u ppl, but im glad tt i've made the right decision not to draw anyone out from the concert, as all of u have proven me right tt u are capable of producing such high quality music.
Oh. And for the 3 receptionists (the last 3 ppl to join angklung), i'm really sorry tt u ppl didnt get to perform. it's not because u guys are lousy at the songs, it's purely because u guys joined the cca after we've submitted the performers' names and ic numbers to esplanade. Anyway, great job on tt day!! it's not easy being receptionists, as there are so many things to handle regarding merchandise and ticket collection (for example, a blur friend of mine forgot to bring her ticket -.-). yepps, and im really glad tt u 3 came for the practices although u all are not performing =) it showed me the kind of attitude tt u girls have =)
hmm. So.. in conclusion.. be proud of ur own concert. Be aware of both positive and negative feedback, take in any criticisms, but dont be too hard on urself. If like wat we've discussed earlier on, if there is really to be a concert again after j1s' common tests (Reminiscence 2/ Reminiscence The Return) , we'll need to really reach our PEAK alright? =) no more excuses such as lack of time!! =) i'm sure the second concert will be a greater blast!
Let us work hard together towards this common goal!! for j2s, the second concert (if there is) will be the last event for u guys, so do make sure u all leave a legacy for future generations!! hahaha sound like we are old ppl yeah? =Pp
alrite, see u guys during nxt prac! :)